Jan. 21, 2009
Contact: Ryan Mulford
Complete Release in PDF Format 
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (4-7) kicks off its EWL schedule on Saturday, January 24, when the Vikings host Lock Haven at 5:00 p.m. in Woodling Gymnasium.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Senior heavyweight Rashard Goff leads Vikings with 24 victories this season, including three pin falls. Jordan Keller has been riding a hot streak winning, four of his last five dual meets, and has a team high 10 major decisions. Lawrence Cavello has been a sturdy dual meet wrestler earning six of his overall 10 wins in dual action.
RECAPPING KENT STATE: The Vikings won their first two matches of the dual, however, that turned out to be the only matches Cleveland State would win in a 33-5 loss to Kent State, Saturday (1/17) night. Jordan Keller and Josh Palivoda provided the lone wins for the Vikings at 125 and 133 pounds. Keller defeated Troy Opfer 6-2, while Palivoda tallied an 8-2 win over Adam Haas.
VS. LOCK HAVEN: The two programs will face off for the 31st time on Saturday (1/24), with the Vikings winning 11 matches against Eastern Wrestling League foe Lock Haven. Cleveland State's last victory against the Bald Eagles came in 2007, when the Vikings won 18-16. This season Lock Haven has a 5-7-1record overall, and 0-2 in EWL action.
GOFF REMAINS FOUR WINS AWAY FROM 100: After losing a close a hard fought match to third-ranked Jermail Porter of Kent State on Saturday (1/17), Rashard Goff remains at 96 career wins. This season Goff has added many accolades to his Viking career, including a first place finish at the Michigan State open, second place at the Penn State Open and he became the first Viking in six years to place at the Midlands Invitational. Most recently, Goff was awarded with the EWL Wrestler of the Week honors for his dominating performance at the Eastern Michigan Duals. This season Goff has a team high 24 wins and boasts a 10-1 dual meet record.
VIKINGS IN EWL: CSU has an impressive five wrestlers ranking in the top five of the EWL individual rankings. Rashard Goff is the highest-ranking Viking coming in with a second place ranking behind Pittsburgh's Zach Scheaffer at heavyweight. Corey Carlo stands alone in fourth place at 157 pounds, while Josh Palivoda (133) and Rob Michaels (165) are tied for fourth in their respective weight classes and Jordan Keller (125) and JT Miller (184) are fifth.
STARTERS IN DOUBLE DIGITS: Seven of the nine Viking starters have collected at least 10 wins this season. Led by Rashard Goff who has hammered out 24 wins this season. Not far behind though is true freshman Jordan Keller who has 22 victories thus far. Antonio Nicholson has 15 wins, Rob Michaels has 14, Corey Carlo has 11 wins, while Lawrence Cavello and JT Miller both have 10 wins this season.
KELLER KEEPS ON WINNING: Jordan Keller continues an outstanding freshman season, collecting his 22nd win of the season Saturday (1/17) night against Kent State. With his 6-2 decision, Keller has won his last three dual meets and has held his opponents to two or less points in each of those three wins. This season, Keller has a second place finish at the Eastern Michigan Open as well as a sixth place finish at the Michigan State Open. Keller has a team high 10 major decisions and is second with 22 wins this season.
HE DOESN'T NEED HIS NAME UP IN LIGHTS: Co-captain Antonio Nicholson has quietly put together a solid senior season. Nicholson has hammered out 15 wins and hold the team's fastest pin of the season, coming at just 30 seconds against Jacob Cann at the Michigan State Open.
CAVELLO STRONG IN DUAL MEETS: Lawrence Cavello has six dual meet wins and has racked up 10 victories overall this season competing at 141 pounds. Earlier this season, Cavello recorded five wins in a row, nailing down his first major decision of the season with an 8-0 win over Northern Iowa's Cole Zempel.
GOFF NAMED EWL WRESTLER OF WEEK: After hammering out a perfect 2-0 record at the Eastern Michigan Duals, Rashard Goff was rewarded with EWL Wrestler of the Week honors for the week of January 11, 2009. Goff becomes the first Viking wrestler to earn the honor since Ryan Hurley won the award in January 2007.
PARTNERSHIP WITH BECKY'S: Viking wrestling has teamed up with Becky's to provide fans an opportunity to meet the staff and talk Viking wrestling after each home dual meet. For just $10, each fan will receive a ticket to the home dual meet, as well as a wristband to be handed out at the conclusion of the meet, which is good for light appetizers and three beverage tickets immediately following the wrestling match. Becky's is located at 1762 E. 18th Street (across from Krenzler Field on the CSU Campus), for more information call 216-687-2094.
THE HEAD COACH: Ben Stehura (Lock Haven, 2000) Overall: 30-57-1
Former Viking graduate assistant coach Ben Stehura is in his first season as head coach. Stehura is only the third head coach for the Viking wrestling program after serving the last five years as the head coach at Division II Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C. The only head coach in Limestone history, Stehura quickly built the program and has already coached one NCAA National Champion, three NCAA All-Americans, five NCAA National qualifiers and eight NCAA All-Academic team members. A 2000 graduate of Lock Haven University with a Bachelor's of Science in Secondary Education, Stehura was a three-year starter, earning fourth and fifth place finishes in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament.
STEHURA ON THE VIKINGS: "I am very proud of the way the team has been competing this season. The team has been getting better each week in practice and that has been showing on the mats. These guys never give up, no matter what the score and they wrestle hard for the entire seven minutes."
UP NEXT: The Vikings continue with EWL competition when they travel to Pittsburgh, PA to take on the Panthers. Action is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.
